Oakdale High School Academic Pentathlon Team proved the third time is indeed the charm as they captured a Second Place Overall Finish in the 13th Annual Stanislaus County Academic Pentathlon.

The 12-member team comprised of OJHS eighth graders consisted of: Honors - Cassie Haakma, Madison Hoffman and Elijah Lopez; Scholastic - Gage Ferreira, Alexis Hamby and Ashley Speers; Varsity - Kelsey Hector, Natalie Lopez and Noah Souza; Alternates - Adisyn Cornali, Caroline Ryun and Jordan Womack.

“Their success comes from their efforts in preparing for the competition,” Pentathlon Coach Derek Gustafson said of the team, noting the students’ dedication to the team throughout the school year.

“This was my second year coaching and I learned that not only going over the content,” he continued, “but strategies for test taking and the super quiz part of the competition were important.”

Adisyn Cornali was named overall High Score Alternate Champion and Elijah Lopez named Overall Team Champion.

In addition to their overall second place finish as a team, 22 individual awards were as follows:

Elijah Lopez: Honors Silver, Science; Honors Fifth, Mathematics; Honors Fifth, Essay and Language/Literature.

Cassie Haakma: Honors Gold, Fine Arts.                                                                    

Gage Ferreira: Scholastic Gold, Speech; Scholastic Bronze, Science; Scholastic Silver, Mathematics; Scholastic Fourth, Social Science; Scholastic Silver, Fine Arts.

Alexis Hamby: Scholastic Fifth, Science; Scholastic Gold, Mathematics.

Ashley Speers: Scholastic Bronze, Mathematics; Scholastic Gold, Essay and Language/Literature.

Kelsey Hector: Varsity Fourth, Science.

Natalia Lopez: Varsity Bronze, Science; Varsity Bronze, Mathematics; Varsity Fifth, Fine Arts; Varsity Fifth, Essay and Language/Literature.

Noah Souza: Varsity Fourth, Social Science.

Caroline Ryun: Alternate Bronze, Mathematics; Alternate Silver, Fine Arts.

Adisyn Cornali: Alternate Gold, Fine Arts.